Bitter Smiles
by ivy-tsuta
Summary: He wanted that smile, that fluttering feeling, to never leave him. Kakashi, Sakura.


Sorry that it's taken me so long to upload this. =(  
I swear, I'm a bad person. But I hope you enjoy it. Any questions, just ask them.

Beta by: LIttlE DrUnk NiNJy and KukiRew  
Thanks guys!

=DDD

* * *

He was lonely. He admitted that much. Though, he wasn't bitter about it, never bitter, that was a simple fact. Anyone that met him could tell. He covered it with fake smiles that closed his eyes so they couldn't see his grief. He told them simple reassurances. Nobody dug deep. "He just needs time," they said. They were all saying the same damn thing. He was cut back on missions and not allowed to leave the village. He took it all in stride.

Now he was bitter.

When confronted, the Hokage of the moment (who was old and wise, but still so, so frail) just frowned and with enormous grief said, "You need time. Just time. You just lost the last of your teammates." The reminder stung and with a glare he removed himself from the office.

He didn't want time. It took too much and gave back too little It was like a leech that sucked your energy but returned your power all the same. In the end you were still weaker. You still died.

He left the Hokage and walked the street leading to his house (not home, it hadn't been a home ever since his father's sinful act) fuming. It was as he walked that he noticed a young girl, probably four or five years old. She clung tightly to her mother's arm, as if fearful of her surroundings. Yet, the look in her eyes was anything but. She looked around quickly, her eyes not moving fast enough to take in all the sights. Giggles escaped her pink lips that were stretched into a wide smile. She seemed to vibrate with radiant happiness. He thought nothing of her, the actual reason he'd looked at her in the first place being her pink hair clipped back with a childish red hair clip.

Days later he one again went for a mission. Days were enough, right? How long did they expect him to sit around the village? Until he had no muscle and his body was weak? But he was met with the same look and an echoing, "You need time."

He left with an even deeper frustration.

A giggle reached his ears.

It was that girl again. This time she has dango stuffed in her mouth, cheeks flushed with an innocent joy. He smiled a bit to himself and resumed, his anger lessened for the moment.

As this schedule resumed with the Hokage, the frequencies of seeing the girl did as well. He saw the girl often; fruit stalls, clothing stores, by the fountain in the square. She was always around town, smiling with her bright pink hair pinned back from her face. He had never once seen her cry, despite her young age.

The schedule changed when the girl with the strawberry hair wasn't there. Her mother looked frantic and he decided that the child was lost. It was not of his concern, though, so he walked away without a care. He just made it to Main Street when he heard a childish laugh. Nonchalantly, he glanced over to the fountain embalmed proudly with the Konoha symbol. A pink haired child was gazing up at the white waters, a smile decorating her chubby face. It was then, with a jolt, that he realized that her eyes were green. Jade in color but brighter than any mint leaf; duller than freshly painted porcelain. Remarkable.

But it wasn't his problem.

With a sigh he strolled to her side, for a moment he stared at the water tumbling down white marble of the fountain. Gold glinted in its basin and he saw all the false hope tossed into the depths of the water. He looked at the girl and knelt. She tore her gaze from the fountain and laughed. He scowled. It was quickly replaced with a smile that curled his eyes.

She beamed. A breath hitched in his throat.

"Hello."

"'Ello."

His eyes softened in the slightest.

"Why are you alone?"

A mischievous look gathered on her face.

"Kaa-chan wasn't looking, so I snuck away to explore!" She said excitedly.

"Hm, that's not good. So, what's your name, Strawberry?"

An indigent pout puffed out her face, but she answered. "Sakura."

He smiled, eyes not shutting but lips tilting. "Fitting. Kakashi."

He stood, holding out a hand. "C'mon, Sakura-san. I'll take you back to your mother."

Her eyes glittered. His hand twitched as it reached for her short arm. She clung to his hand tightly, hands chubby and clammy, squeezed in his own. "'Kay. Let's go, Kakashi-san." She started on before he did. Her green orbs roved everywhere.

Quickly, they came upon the section where her mother was. He spotted her mother. Her hand slipped out of his like sand slipping through his fingers. He felt no regret, she was not his to have.

"Kaa-chan!"

Her mother turned, eyes shining in hope and relief. He left before anything got emotional.

He was surprised when years later, he found the girl again. She was older, more intelligent, she didn't smile as much but she blushed more.

She was part of his Genin team.

He smiled at the gathered students.

"Introduce yourself."

She asked him what he meant and he explained. He loved seeing her once happy face fill with different emotions, even thinly veiled annoyance.

"You first, Strawberry."

Her eyes, just as innocent as they had once been and still the same porcelain green, flashed in knowledge. Her mouth shaped into a silent, 'You.'

A real smile lit his face.


End file.
